Apparatus and method for reallocating communication resources to establish a priority call in a fixed wireless access communication system

ABSTRACT

Apparatus, and an associated method, for a fixed wireless access communication system, by which to initiate a call to an emergency dispatch center, or other priority call to a priority location. When communication resources are initially unavailable to permit establishment of the call, normal call set-up procedures are emulated at a subscriber station from which the call is to be originated. Communication resources are reallocated in the communication system to permit the establishment of the call is thereafter established.

The present invention claims priority to U.S. Provisional ApplicationSer. No. 60/270,385 filed Feb. 21, 2001.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present invention is related to those disclosed in the followingU.S. Provisional and Non-Provisional Patent Applications:

1) Ser. No. 09/713,684 filed on Nov. 15, 2000, entitled “SUBSCRIBERINTEGRATED ACCESS DEVICE FOR USE IN WIRELESS AND WIRELESS ACCESSSYSTEMS”;

2) Ser. No. 09/838,810, filed Apr. 20, 2001, entitled “WIRELESSCOMMUNICATION SYSTEM USING BLOCK FILTERING AND FASTEQUALIZATION-DEMODULATION AND METHOD OF OPERATION”;

3) Ser. No. 09/839,726, filed Apr. 20, 2001, entitled “APPARATUS ANDASSOCIATED METHOD FOR OPERATING UPON DATA SIGNALS RECEIVED AT ARECEIVING STATION OF A FIXED WIRELESS ACCESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM”;

4) Ser. No. 09/839,729, filed Apr. 20, 2001, entitled “APPARATUS ANDMETHOD FOR OPERATING A SUBSCRIBER INTERFACE IN A FIXED WIRELESS SYSTEM”;

5) Ser. No. 09/839,719, filed Apr. 20, 2001, entitled “APPARATUS ANDMETHOD FOR CREATING SIGNAL AND PROFILES AT A RECEIVING STATION”;

6) Ser. No. 09/838,910, filed Apr. 20, 2001, entitled “SYSTEM AND METHODFOR INTERFACE BETWEEN A SUBSCRIBER MODEM AND SUBSCRIBER PREMISESINTERFACES”;

7) Ser. No. 09/839,509, filed Apr. 20, 2001, entitled “BACKPLANEARCHITECTURE FOR USE IN WIRELESS AND WIRELINE ACCESS SYSTEMS”;

8) Ser. No. 09/839,514, filed Apr. 20, 2001, entitled “SYSTEM AND METHODFOR ON-LINE INSERTION OF LINE REPLACEABLE UNITS IN WIRELESS AND WIRELINEACCESS SYSTEMS”;

9) Ser. No. 09/839,512, filed Apr. 20, 2001, entitled “SYSTEM FORCOORDINATION OF TDD TRANSMISSION BURSTS WITHIN AND BETWEEN CELLS IN AWIRELESS ACCESS SYSTEM AND METHOD OF OPERATION”;

10) Ser. No. 09/839,259, filed Apr. 20, 2001, entitled “REDUNDANTTELECOMMUNICATION SYSTEM USING MEMORY EQUALIZATION APPARATUS AND METHODOF OPERATION”;

11) Ser. No. 09/839,457, filed Apr. 20, 2001, entitled “WIRELESS ACCESSSYSTEM FOR ALLOCATING AND SYNCHRONIZING UPLINK AND DOWNLINK OF TDDFRAMES AND METHODS OF OPERATION”;

12) Ser. No. 09/839,075, filed Apr. 20, 2001, entitled “TDD FDD AIRINTERFACE”;

13) Ser. No. 09/839,499, filed Apr. 20, 2001, entitled “APPARATUS, ANDAN ASSOCIATED METHOD, FOR PROVIDING WLAN SERVICES IN A FIXED WIRELESSACCESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM”;

14) Ser. No. 09/839,458, filed Apr. 20, 2001, entitled “WIRELESS ACCESSSYSTEM USING MULTIPLE MODULATION”;

15) Ser. No. 09/839,456, filed Apr. 20, 2001, entitled “WIRELESS ACCESSSYSTEM AND ASSOCIATED METHOD USING MULTIPLE MODULATION FORMATS IN TDDFRAMES ACCORDING TO SUBSCRIBER SERVICE TYPE”;

16) Ser. No. 09/838,924, filed Apr. 20, 2001, entitled “APPARATUS FORESTABLISHING A PRIORITY CALL IN A FIXED WIRELESS ACCESS COMMUNICATIONSYSTEM”;

17) Ser. No. 09/839,734, filed Apr. 20, 2001, entitled “METHOD FORESTABLISHING A PRIORITY CALL IN A FIXED WIRELESS ACCESS COMMUNICATIONSYSTEM”;

18) Ser. No. 09/839,513, filed Apr. 20, 2001, entitled “SYSTEM ANDMETHOD FOR PROVIDING AN IMPROVED COMMON CONTROL BUS FOR USE IN ON-LINEINSERTION OF LINE REPLACEABLE UNITS IN WIRELESS AND WIRELINE ACCESSSYSTEMS”;

19) Ser. No. 60/262,712, filed on Jan. 19, 2001, entitled “WIRELESSCOMMUNICATION SYSTEM USING BLOCK FILTERING AND FASTEQUALIZATIAON-DEMODULATION AND METHOD OF OPERATION”;

20) Ser. No. 60/262,825, filed on Jan. 19, 2001, entitled “APPARATUS ANDASSOCIATED METHOD FOR OPERATING UPON DATA SIGNALS RECEIVED AT ARECEIVING STATION OF A FIXED WIRELESS ACCESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM”;

21) Ser. No. 60/262,698, filed on Jan. 19, 2001, entitled “APPARATUS ANDMETHOD FOR OPERATING A SUBSCRIBER INTERFACE IN A FIXED WIRELESS SYSTEM”;

22) Ser. No. 60/262,827, filed on Jan. 19, 2001, entitled “APPARATUS ANDMETHOD FOR CREATING SIGNAL AND PROFILES AT A RECEIVING STATION”;

23) Ser. No. 60/262,826, filed on Jan. 19, 2001, entitled “SYSTEM ANDMETHOD FOR INTERFACE BETWEEN A SUBSCRIBER MODEM AND SUBSCRIBER PREMISESINTERFACES”;

24) Ser. No. 60/262,951, filed on Jan. 19, 2001, entitled “BACKPLANEARCHITECTURE FOR USE IN WIRELESS AND WIRELINE SYSTEMS”;

25) Ser. No. 60/262,824, filed on Jan. 19, 2001, entitled “SYSTEM ANDMETHOD FOR ON-LINE INSERTION OF LINE REPLACEABLE UNITS IN WIRELESS ANDWIRELINE ACCESS SYSTEMS”;

26) Ser. No. 60/263,101, filed on Jan. 19, 2001, entitled “SYSTEM FORCOORDINATION OF TDD TRANSMISSION BURSTS WITHIN AND BETWEEN CELLS IN AWIRELESS ACCESS SYSTEM AND METHOD OF OPERATION”;

27) Ser. No. 60/263,097, filed on Jan. 19, 2001, entitled “REDUNDANTTELECOMMUNICATION SYSTEM USING MEMORY EQUALIZATION APPARATUS AND METHODOF OPERATION”;

28) Ser. No. 60/273,579, filed Mar. 5, 2001, entitled “WIRELESS ACCESSSYSTEM FOR ALLOCATING AND SYNCHRONIZING UPLINK AND DOWNLINK OF TDDFRAMES AND METHOD OF OPERATION”;

29) Ser. No. 60/262,955, filed Jan. 19, 2001, entitled “TDD FDD AIRINTERFACE”;

30) Ser. No. 60/262,708, filed on Jan. 19, 2001, entitled “APPARATUS,AND AN ASSOCIATED METHOD, FOR PROVIDING WLAN SERVICE IN A FIXED WIRELESSACCESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM”;

31) Ser. No. 60/273,689, filed Mar. 5, 2001, entitled “WIRELESS ACCESSSYSTEM USING MULTIPLE MODULATION”;

32) Ser. No. 60/273,757, filed Mar. 5, 2001, entitled “WIRELESS ACCESSSYSTEM AND ASSOCIATED METHOD USING MULTIPLE MODULATION FORMATS IN TDDFRAMES ACCORDING TO SUBSCRIBER SERVICE TYPE”;

33) Ser. No. 60/270,378, filed Feb. 21, 2001, entitled “APPARATUS FORESTABLISHING A PRIORITY CALL IN A FIXED WIRELESS ACCESS COMMUNICATIONSYSTEM”; and

24) Ser. No. 60/270,430, filed Feb. 21, 2001, entitled “METHOD FORESTABLISHING A PRIORITY CALL IN A FIXED WIRELESS ACCESS COMMUNICATIONSYSTEM”.

The above applications are commonly assigned to the assignee of thepresent invention. The disclosures of these related patent applicationsare hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes as if fully setforth herein. The present application hereby claims the benefit underTitle 35, U.S. Code §119(e) of the above provisional and non-provisionalU.S. Patent Applications.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to a manner by which to initiateestablishment of a priority call, such as a call to request emergencyassistance in a FWA (fixed wireless access), or other, communicationsystem. More particularly, the present invention relates to apparatus,and an associated method, by which to effectuate the priority call evenwhen communication resources are not initially available to establishthe call. The initial unavailability of the communication resources isnot made known to the user initiating the call as normal systemoperation is emulated at a subscriber station from which the calloriginates. And, when the call is determined to be a priority call, thecommunication resources of the communication system are reallocated toprovide communication resources to permit the establishment of thepriority call.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Telecommunications access systems provide for voice, data, andmultimedia transport and control between the central office (CO) of thetelecommunications service provider and the subscriber (customer)premises. Prior to the mid-1970s, the subscriber was provided phonelines (e.g., voice frequency (VF) pairs) directly from the Class 5switching equipment located in the central office of the telephonecompany. In the late 1970s, digital loop carrier (DLC) equipment wasadded to the telecommunications access architecture. The DLC equipmentprovided an analog phone interface, voice CODEC, digital datamultiplexing, transmission interface, and control and alarm remotelyfrom the central office to cabinets located within business andresidential locations for approximately 100 to 2000 phone lineinterfaces. This distributed access architecture greatly reduced linelengths to the subscriber and resulted in significant savings in bothwire installation and maintenance. The reduced line lengths alsoimproved communication performance on the line provided to thesubscriber.

By the late 1980s, the limitations of data modem connections over voicefrequency (VF) pairs were becoming obvious to both subscribers andtelecommunications service providers. ISDN (Integrated Services DigitalNetwork) was introduced to provide universal 128 kbps service in theaccess network. The subscriber interface is based on 64 kbpsdigitization of the VF pair for digital multiplexing into high speeddigital transmission streams (e.g., T1/T3 lines in North America, E1/E3lines in Europe). ISDN was a logical extension of the digital networkthat had evolved throughout the 1980s. The rollout of ISDN in Europe washighly successful. However, the rollout in the United States was notsuccessful, due in part to artificially high tariff costs which greatlyinhibited the acceptance of ISDN.

More recently, the explosion of the Internet and deregulation of thetelecommunications industry have brought about a broadband revolutioncharacterized by greatly increased demands for both voice and dataservices and greatly reduced costs due to technological innovation andintense competition in the telecommunications marketplace. To meet thesedemands, high speed DSL (digital subscriber line) modems and cablemodems have been developed and introduced. The DLC architecture wasextended to provide remote distributed deployment at the neighborhoodcabinet level using DSL access multiplexer (DSLAM) equipment. Theincreased data rates provided to the subscriber resulted in upgradeDLC/DSLAM transmission interfaces from T1/E1 interfaces (1.5/2.0 Mbps)to high speed DS3 and OC3 interfaces. In a similar fashion, the entiretelecommunications network backbone has undergone and is undergoingcontinuous upgrade to wideband optical transmission and switchingequipment.

Similarly, wireless access systems have been developed and deployed toprovide broadband access to both commercial and residential subscriberpremises. Initially, the market for wireless access systems was drivenby rural radiotelephony deployed solely to meet the universal servicerequirements imposed by government (i.e., the local telephone company isrequired to serve all subscribers regardless of the cost to installservice). The cost of providing a wired connection to a small percentageof rural subscribers was high enough to justify the development andexpense of small-capacity wireless local loop (WLL) systems.

Deregulation of the local telephone market in the United States (e.g.,Telecommunications Act of 1996) and in other countries shifted the focusof fixed wireless access (FWA) systems deployment from rural access tocompetitive local access in more urbanized areas. In addition, the ageand inaccessibility of much of the older wired telephone infrastructuremakes FWA systems a cost-effective alternative to installing new, wiredinfrastructure. Also, it is more economically feasible to install FWAsystems in developing countries where the market penetration is limited(i.e., the number and density of users who can afford to pay forservices is limited to small percent of the population) and the rolloutof wired infrastructure cannot be performed profitably. In either case,broad acceptance of FWA systems requires that the voice and data qualityof FWA systems must meet or exceed the performance of wiredinfrastructure.

Wireless access systems must address a number of unique operational andtechnical issues including:

1) Relatively high bit error rates (BER) compared to wire line oroptical systems; and

2) Transparent operation with network protocols and protocol timeconstraints for the following protocols:

-   -   a) ATM;    -   b) Class 5 switch interfaces (domestic GR-303 and international        V5.2);    -   c) TCP/IP with quality-of-service QoS for voice over IP (VoIP)        (i.e., RTP) and other H.323 media services;    -   d) Distribution of synchronization of network time out to the        subscribers;

3) Increased use of voice, video and/or media compression andconcentration of active traffic over the air interface to conservebandwidth;

4) Switching and routing within the access system to distribute signalsfrom the central office to multiple remote cell sites containingmultiple cell sectors and one or more frequencies of operation persector; and

5) Remote support and debugging of the subscriber equipment, includingremote software upgrade and provisioning.

Unlike physical optical or wire systems that operate at bit error rates(BER) of 10⁻¹¹, wireless access systems have time varying channels thattypically provide bit error rates of 10⁻³ to 10⁻⁶. The wireless physical(PHY) layer interface and the media access control (MAC) layer interfacemust provide modulation, error correction and ARQ protocol that candetect and, where required, correct or retransmit corrupted data so thatthe interfaces at the network and at the subscriber site operate at wireline bit error rates.

The wide range of equipment and technology capable of providing eitherwireline (i.e., cable, DSL, optical) broadband access or wirelessbroadband access has allowed service providers to match the needs of asubscriber with a suitable broadband access solution. However, in manyareas, the cost of cable modem or DSL service is high. Additionally,data rates may be slow or converge incomplete due to line lengths. Inthese areas and in areas where the high cost of replacing old telephoneequipment or the low density of subscribers makes it economicallyunfeasible to introduce either DSL or cable modem broadband access,fixed wireless broadband systems offer a viable alternative. Fixedwireless broadband systems use a group of transceiver base stations tocover a region in the same manner as the base stations of a cellularphone system. The base stations of a fixed wireless broadband systemtransmit forward channel (i.e., downstream) signals in directed beams tofixed location antennas attached to the residences or offices ofsubscribers. The base stations also receive reverse channel (i.e.,upstream) signals transmitted by the broadband access equipment of thesubscriber.

Unfortunately, the diversity of broadband access technology has resultedin a lack of standardization in the broadband access equipment. Cablemodems and DSL routers are incompatible with each other and with fiberoptic equipment. Different service providers locate broadband accessequipment in different locations on the subscriber premises. Often thisequipment is located inside the office or residence of the subscriber,which makes it inaccessible to maintenance workers unless the subscriberis present to admit the workers to the premises. The lack ofstandardization of broadband access equipment and the frequentinaccessibility of such equipment adds to the cost and complexity ofbroadband access.

Therefore, there is a need in the art for broadband access equipmentthat can be readily and inexpensively deployed in the large domestic andinternational markets that are not currently served by wired or wirelessbroadband access technology. Further, there is a need for an apparatusto increase the communication capacity of the communication system.

Concentration techniques are utilized in construction of many multi-usercommunication systems. Concentration techniques, generally, refer toselection of the number of users permitted to be part of the system tobe greater, by some factor, than the actual capacity of thecommunication system. Statistical, or other, analysis is made of thelikely number of users of the communication system at any particulartime, and the system is constructed to support a number of users basedupon the expected number of users.

During times in which actual usage of the communication exceeds thecapacity of the system, additional users, beyond the system's capacity,are prevented, or blocked, from access to the system.

When the communication system comprises a conventional wireline,telephone communication systems, the additional users are providedindication of their failure to access the system by alerting such userswith audible alerts. The audible alerts are audibly distinct from normaldial tones generated during normal telephone operation.

In a fixed wireless access communication system, capacity limitationsare possible between both the network infrastructure of the system and acorrespondent node forming a terminating or originating station as wellas, additionally, the radio links extending between the networkinfrastructure and the subscriber station.

When, for instance, a user at the subscriber station needs to place apriority call, such as a request for emergency assistance to anemergency dispatch center, access to the communication system tocommunicate with the emergency dispatch center is essential. A needtherefore exists to provide access to a communication system toestablish the priority call with the emergency dispatch center. It wouldalso be desirable to provide a manner by which to operate thecommunication system in which the user is not made aware of an initialblockage from access to the system if access shall subsequently begranted.

It is in light of this background information related to radiocommunication systems that the significant improvements of the presentinvention have evolved.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention, accordingly, advantageously provides apparatus,and an associated method, by which to initiate establishment of apriority call, such as a call to request emergency assistance, in a FWA(fixed wireless access), or other, communication system.

Through operation of an embodiment of the present invention, a manner isprovided by which to effectuate the priority cell even when thecommunication resources are not initially available to establish thecall.

When a call is initiated, the initial unavailability of thecommunication resources is not made known to the user initiating thecall as normal system operation is emulated at the subscriber station atwhich the call is originated. The communication resources of thecommunication system are reallocated, when the call is determined to bea priority call, to provide communication resources to permit theestablishment of the priority call.

In one aspect of the present invention, apparatus is provided for asubscriber station operable in a fixed wireless access communicationsystem. When a priority call is originated at the subscriber station,the user of the subscriber station takes the telephonic station locatedthereat off-hook. When the telephone station is off-hook, a callestablishment message is generated and sent by way of a radio link tonetwork infrastructure of the fixed wireless access system. Theestablishment message is generated as a precursor to a request toestablish the call between the subscriber station and anothercommunication station. Detection is made at the network infrastructureof the call establishment message. Responsive thereto, determination ismade of the communication resource availability in the communicationsystem to establish an additional call, of indeterminate priority. Aresponse indicating whether communication resources are available in thecommunication system to establish the call of indeterminate priority isreturned to the subscriber station.

A response detector at the subscriber station is coupled to receiveindications of the response to the call establishment message.Indication of whether communication resources are available to establishthe call is detected thereat. If communication resources areunavailable, a call set-up emulator is operable to emulate at thesubscriber station normal call set-up operations. To the user of thesubscriber station at which the call is initiated, call set-upoperations appear to be normally progressing.

Dialing digits associated with the terminating station with which thecall is to be established are entered at the subscriber station. Adialing digit signal is then sent to the network infrastructure.Determination is made at the network infrastructure of the priority tobe associated with the call which is to be established. If the call is apriority call, such as a call to an emergency dispatch center, e.g.,indicated by a pseudo-universal dialing code, such as 9-1-1, resourcereallocations are effectuated to permit the establishment of the call.Thereafter, the call is established.

In one implementation, apparatus is provided for a subscriber stationoperable in the FWA system. A call set-up emulator is selectablyoperable to emulate normal call set-up operations at the subscriberstation even when communication resources are not initially available toestablish a call by the subscriber station. A dial-tone generatorgenerates a dial tone audibly detected by the user of the subscriberstation in which the call is originated. Dialing digits associated withthe call originated at the subscriber station are also enterable inapparent normal fashion at the subscriber station. Upon subsequentreallocation of communication resources in the FWA communication system,the call establishment commences in normal manner.

In a further implementation, apparatus is provided for the networkinfrastructure of the FWA system, such as at an access processor or basetransceiver station of the system. A detector is coupled to detect acall establishment message transmitted to the network infrastructure.Responsive to receipt of the call establishment message, determinationsare made of the availability of communication resources to establish acall in the communication system. A response is then sent to theoriginating subscriber station. Thereafter, indications of the identityof the terminating station to which a call is to be established arereceived at the network infrastructure. If the identify of theterminating station indicates that the call is a priority call,reallocation of communication resources is made, if necessary, to permitthe establishment of the call. If communication resources are nototherwise available, an ongoing communication session is terminated toprovide the communication resources to effectuate the call.

In these and another aspects, therefore, apparatus, and an associatedmethod, is provided for a multi-user FWA (fixed wireless access)communication system in which a plurality of subscriber stations areoperable to communicate by way of radio links with networkinfrastructure to which an emergency dispatch center is coupled. A callrequest originated by a selected subscriber station is sent to thenetwork infrastructure to request establishment of a call between theselected subscriber station and the emergency dispatch center. Acommunication resource availability determiner is operable responsive toreceipt at the network infrastructure of the call request to determinewhether communication resources are available to establish the callbetween the selected subscriber station and the emergency dispatchcenter. A resource reallocator is coupled to the communication resourceavailability determiner. The resource reallocator is selectably operableto reallocate communication resources in the FWA communication system topermit establishment of the call between the selected subscriber stationand the emergency dispatch center.

The present invention will be better understood when read in light ofthe accompanying drawings which are described in the detaileddescription hereinbelow and in light of the claims appended hereto.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a functional block diagram of an exemplary fixedwireless access (FWA) network in which an embodiment of the presentinvention is operable.

FIG. 2 illustrates a more detailed view of the fixed wireless accessnetwork in FIG. 1, according to an embodiment the present invention;

FIG. 3 illustrates a functional block diagram of portions of the fixedwireless access communication system shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 illustrates a message sequence diagram exemplary of signalinggenerated during operation of the communication system shown in FIGS. 1and 3 pursuant to an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring first to FIG. 1, a communication system, shown generally at10, provides for communications with the subscriber stations, of whichthe subscriber station 12 is exemplary. Communications are effectuatedwith the subscriber station by way of radio links formed upon an airinterface 14. Data originated at an appropriately-positioned subscriberstation can be communicated to a correspondent node, 16 by way of acommunication path by way of the radio links formed upon the airinterface. Data originated at the correspondent node 16 can becommunicated upon a communication path formed between a correspondentnode and a subscriber station. Two-way communication between thesubscriber station and the correspondent node is thereby possible.

In the exemplary implementation, the communication system 10 forms afixed wireless access (FWA) system coupled to a network backbone, ofwhich the combined path data networks (PDN) and public-switchedtelephonic network (PSTN) 18 is representative in the figure.

While the following description of operation of an embodiment of thepresent invention shall describe its operation with respect to theexemplary implementation of the communication system shown in thefigure, it should be understood that operation of an embodiment of thepresent invention is analogously also operable in other types ofcommunication systems which use concentration techniques or otherwiseare susceptible to access limitations.

The fixed wireless access system includes a plurality of basetransceiver stations of which the base transceiver/remote modem (BTS/RM)22 shown in the figure is exemplary. Each base transceiver stationdefines a cell. Here, the base transceiver station 22 defines a cell 24.The subscriber station 12 is here positioned at a location encompassedby the cell 24. A plurality of other subscriber stations are alsopositionable at locations encompassed by the cell 24. And, othersubscriber stations positioned in other cells defined by other basetransceiver stations typically form parts of a fixed wireless accesscommunication system.

Concentration techniques are used in system construction. That is tosay, system construction permits a high ratio of subscriber stations tobase transceiver stations such that, if all of the subscriber stationssimultaneously attempt to effectuate communication sessions, thecommunication capacity of the base transceiver stations would beexceeded. Through the use of concentration techniques, a statistical, orother, determination is made of an appropriate number of subscriberstations to be permitted to be associated with a particular basetransceiver station. Not all of the subscriber stations are likely toattempt to effectuate simultaneous communication sessions, therebypermitting the number of permitted subscriber stations to be increased.

While any of the a large variety of different types of communicationsare effectuable, of significance to an embodiment of the presentinvention are telephonic communications originated at the subscriberstation. A telephonic station 26 is here shown to be located at thesubscriber station 12.

Use of the terminology communications by the subscriber station and bythe telephonic station shall be used, at times, interchangeably below toindicate communications by the telephonic station with the correspondentnode 16. And, while only a telephonic station 26 is shown to bepositioned at the subscriber station, other types of communicationdevices such as computer stations and consumer-electronic devices, canalso be represented at the subscriber station.

An integrated access device (IAD) 28 is also shown to be positioned atthe subscriber station. The integrated access device (IAD) unit includestransceiver circuitry capable of communicating by way of the airinterface with the base transceiver station 22. The telephonic station26 is coupled to the integrated access device 28 and communications areeffectuated with the subscriber station by way of the integrated accessdevice.

The base transceiver station 22 forms a portion of the networkinfrastructure of the fixed wireless access system. Groups of basetransceiver stations are coupled to an access processor (AP) 32. And, inturn, the access process is coupled to the network 18. During operationof an embodiment of the present invention, communication resourcesrequired to establish a call between the telephonic station 26 and thecorrespondence node 16 are selectably provided. Communication resourcesboth at the air interface 14 and through the network 18 must beavailable to establish the call between the telephonic station 26 andthe correspondent node 16.

FIG. 2 illustrates portions of the communication system 10 to illustrateoperation of an embodiment of the present invention. Operation of anembodiment of the present invention permits a user of the telephonicstation 26 positioned at the subscriber station 12 to originate a callto an emergency dispatch center 34 at which the correspondent node 16 islocated.

Elements shown in the figure are functional representations, portions ofwhich are implemented, in exemplary implementation, as algorithmsexecutable at processing devices. Additionally, functional operation ofthe various elements, or portion thereof, can be distributed at severallocations or elements of the communication system. Here, for instance,the transmit and receive circuitry portions 36 and 38 are implemented atthe integrated access device 28, at the telephonic station 26, or atother portions of the subscriber stations.

When a call is placed to the emergency dispatch center, apseudo-universal dialing code, such as a 9-1-1 dialing code is enteredat the telephonic station of the subscriber station.

A user interface 42 is also positioned at the subscriber station. Theuser interface includes, for instance, an actuation key pad located onthe telephonic station which permits user actuation thereof to enterdialing digits associated with a terminating station such as thecorrespondent node 16 at the emergency dispatch center 34. The userinterface is also representative of a hook switch associated with thetelephonic station upon which a telephonic handset is conventionallypositioned, to be removed therefrom when a call is to be initiated.

The user interface is coupled to apparatus 44 of an embodiment of thepresent invention. The apparatus 44 is formed of functional elementsimplemented, for instance, by algorithms executable by controlcircuitry.

Here, a call establishment message generator 46 is coupled to the userinterface to receive indications of off-hook indications indicatedthereat. An off-hook indication is indicated when a telephonic stationis taken off the hook switch when a user intends to initiate a call witha terminating station. The call establishment message generatorgenerates a call establishment message when the off-hook indication isprovided thereto. The call establishment message is provided to thetransmit circuitry 36 to be transmitted to the network infrastructure toinform the network infrastructure of the imminent request forestablishment of a call with a terminating station.

The network infrastructure, here formed of both the base transceiverstation 22 and access processor 32 is also shown to include bothtransmit circuitry and receive circuitry portions 52 and 54,respectively. The transmit and receive circuitry portions areimplemented, for example, at the base transceiver station 22.

The call establishment message transmitted by the subscriber station tothe network infrastructure is detected at the receive circuitry 52.Apparatus of an embodiment of the present invention, here referenced at56 is coupled to the receive and transmit circuitry 52 and 54. Elementsforming the apparatus 56 are also functionally represented and can beimplemented in any of various manners, including by algorithmsexecutable by control circuitry. And, the elements forming the apparatus56 can be distributed at different locations of the networkinfrastructure or coupled thereto.

When a call establishment message is received at the receive circuitry,detection is made of its reception by a call establishment messagedetector 58. The call establishment message detector is coupled to acommunication resource availability determiner 62. The communicationresource availability determiner is operable at least responsive todetection of reception of the call establishment message at the networkinfrastructure. The communication resource availability determiner isoperable to determine the availability of communication resources, bothin the network 18 and upon the air interface 14, of communicationresources to establish a call of indeterminate priority. Determinationsare made, for instance, responsive to indications of other ongoingcommunication sessions with other subscriber stations as well as ongoingcommunication sessions making use of the network 18.

Determinations made by the determiner 62 are provided to a responsegenerator 64. The response generator generates a response signal whichis provide to the transmit circuitry 54. The response signal istransmitted by way of the air interface 14 to the subscriber station 12.The response serves to acknowledge reception at the networkinfrastructure of the call establishment message and also to provide anindication to the subscriber station of the availability ofcommunication resources to establish a call originated at the subscriberstation.

When the response is received at the receiver circuitry 38 of thesubscriber station, a response detector 68 detects reception at thesubscriber station of the response. If the response indicates thatcommunication resources are unavailable to establish a call, originatedat the subscriber station, an indication is provided to a call set-upemulator 72. The call set-up emulator is operable to emulate normaloperation of call set-up procedures even though the response indicatesthe communication resources to be unavailable to establish the call. Thecall set-up emulator includes, for instance, a dial tone generator whichgenerates a conventional telephone dial tone audibly detectable by auser of the telephonic station. Here, the oscillator 74 isrepresentative of an oscillation signal used in the generation of a dialtone. The emulator is also coupled to the user interface 42 to receiveindications of dialing digits or other actuator inputs input by way ofthe user interface. For instance when dialing digits are entered, thegenerated dial tone is terminated and appropriate audibly-detectabletones are generated responsive to the entry of the dialing digits orother input actuations.

Indications of the entered dialing digits are also provided to a dialingdigit signal generator 76. The dialing signal generator generates adialing digit signal which is provided to the transmit circuitry 36 tobe transmitted to the network infrastructure.

When the dialing digit signal is received at the receive circuitry,detection of the signal is made by a dialing digit indication detector82. The detector 82 detects the values of the dialing digits. Detectionis at least made as to whether the values of the dialing digits arethose corresponding to the emergency dispatch center, or other prioritylocation. When detection is made of dialing digits corresponding to theemergency dispatch center, or other priority location, an indication ofsuch is given to a resource reallocator 84. The resource reallocator isoperable to reallocate the allocation of communication resources in thecommunication system to permit the establishment of the call between thesubscriber station and the emergency dispatch center. Resourcereallocation caused to be effectuated by the resource reallocatorincludes, for instance, termination of ongoing communication sessions tomake available the communication resources to permit the call to theemergency dispatch carrier, or other priority location, to beestablished. Selection of which of the ongoing communication session, orsessions, to be terminated is made, for instance, upon random selection,or based upon subscription service levels to which the differentsubscriber stations have subscribed.

Thereby, a call is able to be established between the subscriber stationand the emergency dispatch center, even when the communication resourcesare not initially available to permit the establishment of the call.And, through the use of the call set-up emulator at the subscriberstation, the originator of the call is not made aware of the initialunavailability of the communication resources.

FIG. 3 again shows portions of the fixed wireless network, here shown at300 of an embodiment of the present invention. The Fixed wirelessnetwork, is here show to include a subscriber integrated access device(SIAD) 304 located at a subscriber premises. The SIAD 304 includes radiocircuitry 306 capable of transceiving radio signals. With a transceiverbase station 308.

The radio circuitry 306 of the SIAD 304 is here capable of generatingboth voice and data packets, here represented by the blocks 312 and 314.The voice packages are representative of voice packets generated duringoperation of a telephony handset which is operable in convention mannerbut connected to the radio circuitry of the SIAD.

The transceiver base station is coupled to an access processor shelf 322which here functionally is shown to include a table 324 at which activecall information is stored, and a resource allocator 325 which allocatescommunication resources in the fixed wireless network.

The access processor communicates traffic and signaling information byway of the element 328 on the lines 332 with a network interface 334.

The network interface 334 is coupled to the PSTN/IP network 336.

The network 336, is in turn, connected to a communication station, herelocated at an emergency dispatch center 338.

A telephony handset located at the SIAD 304 can be used, for instance,to phone an emergency request for emergency assistance to personnel atthe emergency dispatch center. The call, when established, permits acall originator who places the call to request emergency assistance.

Due to the potentially emergency nature of the call, it is essentialthat the call be established. Due to the use of concentrated techniquesin system construction, there is a possibility that system capacitywould not permit establishment of the call, and the request foremergency assistance at the emergency dispatch center would not becompleted.

During operation of an embodiment of the present invention, a manner isprovided by which to better assure that the call is established.

FIG. 4 illustrates a message sequence diagram, shown generally at 400,representative of operation of a fixed wireless network shown in FIG. 3.Signaling is initiated at the SIAD 304 when a telephony handset is takenoff-hook. As soon as the telephony handset is taken off-hook, a callestablishment message is generated, indicated by the segment 404, andsent to the access processor 322. A determination is made as to whetherresources are available to establish a call. In the exemplary scenario,resources are not available to establish a call, and an indication ofthe unavailability of the resources, indicated by the segment 406, isreturned to the SIAD.

Upon receipt of the indication of the unavailability of the resources,normal call set-up procedures are emulated, indicated by the block 408,emulsion procedures include, for instances, generation of a dial tonewhich is local to the SIAD but otherwise appearing to be normaloperation of the telephony handset to a user thereof. The user, upondetecting the dial tone, dials, or otherwise enters, digits associatedwith the emergency dispatch center, such as the emergency digits 9-1-1forming a pseudo universal emergency number in the United States. Theentered digits of the dialing code are captured, indicated at the block410, and a digit message is generated and transmitted by the segment 412to the access processor 322.

At the access processor a determination is made as to whether the valuesof the digits contain in the digital message are associated with theemergency dispatch center or are otherwise associated with the prioritycall. If not, a terminate call message indicated by the segment 414 isreturned to the SIAD. A terminate call message is identified at thetelephony handset at the SIAD as a fast busy signal.

If, conversely, the digit message is of values corresponding to anemergency dispatch center, or is otherwise representative of a prioritycall, a decision is made to permit the establishment of the call. Tofree resources to permit the establishment of the call, a nonprioritycall is terminated, indicated by the block 416. A non priority call isterminated, such as by randomly terminating an active call selected fromthe table 324, (shown in FIG. 3). A priority might also be associatedwith the act of calls, and a lowest-priority act of call isfirst-terminated. Or a random termination of a lowest-priority call isperformed. Thereby, resources are made available to establish the callbetween the telephony handset and the emergency dispatch center.Thereafter, and as indicated by the segment 418, a message is sent tothe PSTN to cause a call to be established therethrough. Normal calloperations, indicated by the block 422 is thereafter effectuated at the911, or other priority call, continues until one side, or the other, ofthe communication sessions goes on-hook.

The previous descriptions are of preferred examples for implementing theinvention, and the scope of the invention should not necessarily belimited by this description. The scope of the present invention isdefined by the following claims.

1. In a multi-user FWA (fixed wireless access) communication system inwhich a plurality of subscriber stations are operable to communicate byway of radio links with network infrastructure to which a correspondentnode is coupled, an improvement of apparatus for a selected subscriberstation of the plurality of subscriber stations at which a priority callof selected call-type is selectably originated, said apparatuscomprising: a call establishment message generator coupled to receive anindication of initiation at the selected subscriber station oforigination of the priority call, said call establishment messagegenerator for generating a call establishment message for communicationto the network infrastructure to initiate call set-up proceduresprecursing a request to establish the priority call between the selectedsubscriber station and the correspondent node; a response detectorcoupled to receive an indication of a network-infrastructure generatedresponse to the call establishment message generated by said callestablishment message generator, said response detector for detectingwhether the response to the call establishment message indicatescommunication resources to be available to establish the priority call;and a call set-up emulator coupled to said response detector, said callset-up emulator operable to emulate at the selected subscriber stationnormal call set-up operations thereat at least for a selected periodresponsive to detection by said response detector of unavailability ofthe communication resources to establish the priority call, wherein saidcorrespondent node comprises an emergency dispatch center having apseudo-universal dialing code associated therewith for originating saidpriority call and wherein the selected period is sufficient to determinewhether the pseudo-universal dialing code has been dialed at theselected subscriber station.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein saidcall set-up emulator comprises a dial-tone generator, said dial-tonegenerator for generating an audio dial-tone at the selected subscriberstation responsive to detection by said response detector of theunavailability of the communication resources.
 3. The apparatus of claim2 wherein said selected subscriber station comprises a telephonicstation having an actuation keypad actuatable by a user to enter dialingdigits associated with the correspondent node and wherein generation ofthe audio dial-tone by said dial-tone generator is terminated uponcommencement of entry of the dialing digits.
 4. The apparatus of claim 3further comprising a dialing-digit signal generator coupled to receiveindications of entry of the dialing digits at the actuation keypad saiddialing-digit signal generator for generating a dialing-digit indicationsignal for communication to the network infrastructure pursuant to therequest to establish the priority call between the selected subscriberstation and the correspondent node.
 5. The apparatus of claim 4 whereinthe correspondent node comprises an assistance center having a dialingcode formed of dialing digits associated with the assistance center,wherein the call of the selected call-type comprises a priority call,and wherein the dialing-digit signal generated by said dialing-digitsignal generator is of values corresponding to the dialing codeassociated with the assistance center when the user actuates theactuation keypad to cause entry of the dialing digits forming thedialing code associated with the assistance center.
 6. The apparatus ofclaim 5 wherein the assistance center comprises said emergency dispatchcenter having said pseudo-universal dialing code associated therewith,wherein the priority call comprises an emergency call, and wherein thedialing-digit signal generated by said dialing-digit signal generator isof values corresponding to the pseudo-universal dialing code associatedwith the emergency dispatch center when the user actuates the actuationkeypad to cause entry of the dialing digits forming the pseudo-universaldialing code.
 7. In the multi-user FWA communication system of claim 1,a further improvement of apparatus for the network infrastructure, saidapparatus comprising: a call establishment message detector coupled toreceive indications of receipt at the network infrastructure of the callestablishment message; and a response generator coupled to said callestablishment message detector, said response generator for generatingthe response of the call establishment message.
 8. The apparatus ofclaim 7 further comprising a communication resource availabilitydeterminer operable responsive to detection of the call establishmentmessage by said call establishment message detector, said communicationresource availability determiner for determining whether communicationresources are available to establish the priority call.
 9. The apparatusof claim 8 wherein the network infrastructure is coupled to thecorrespondent node by way of a network backbone, and wherein saidcommunication resource availability determiner determines both whethercommunication resources are available upon the network backbone toestablish the priority call and whether communication resources areavailable upon the radio links to establish the priority call.
 10. Theapparatus of claim 8 wherein the selected subscriber station furthersends a dialing digit indication signal to the network infrastructureand wherein said apparatus for the network infrastructure furthercomprises a dialing digit indication detector coupled to receiveindications of receipt at the network infrastructure of the dialingdigit indication signal.
 11. The apparatus for the networkinfrastructure of claim 10 further comprising a resource reallocatorcoupled to said dialing digit indication detector and to said resourceavailability determiner, said resource reallocator selectably operableto reallocate communication resources in the multi-user FWAcommunication system responsive to selected values contained in thedialing digit indication signal detected by said dialing digitindication device.
 12. The apparatus of claim 11 wherein thecorrespondent node comprises said emergency dispatch center having saidpseudo-universal dialing code associated therewith, wherein the dialingdigit indication signal to which said dialing digit indication detectoris coupled to receive indications thereof is of values corresponding tothe pseudo-universal dialing code and wherein said resource allocatorreallocates the communication resources to provide communicationresources to establish a the priority call between the selectedsubscriber station and the emergency dispatch center.
 13. The apparatusof claim 12 wherein the communication resources of the FWA communicationsystem are utilized pursuant to a plurality of communication resourceswith a plurality of subscriber stations and wherein reallocation made bysaid resource reallocator include termination of selected communicationresources, thereby to reallocate resources to establish the prioritycall between the selected subscriber station and the emergency dispatchcenter.
 14. The apparatus of claim 13 wherein the communication sessionshave priority levels associated therewith and wherein selection oftermination of selected communication sessions is made responsive to thepriority levels associated with the communication sessions.
 15. In amulti-user FWA (fixed wireless access) communication system in which aplurality of subscriber stations are operable to communicate by way ofradio links with network infrastructure to which a correspondent node iscoupled, a method for a selected subscriber station of the plurality ofsubscriber stations to selectably originate a priority callof selectedcall-type , said method comprising: receiving an indication ofinitiation at the selected subscriber station of origination of thepriority call; generating a call establishment message for communicationto the network infrastructure to initiate call set-up proceduresprecursing a request to establish the priority call between the selectedsubscriber station and the correspondent node, wherein saidcorrespondent node comprises an emergency dispatch center having apseudo-universal dialing code associated therewith for said prioritycall; receiving an indication of a network-infrastructure generatedresponse to the call establishment message; detecting whether theresponse to the call establishment message indicates communicationresources to be available to establish the priority call; and responsiveto detection of unavailability of the communication resources toestablish the priority call, emulating normal call set-up operations atthe selected subscriber station at least for a selected periodsufficient to determine whether the pseudo-universal dialing code hasbeen dialed at the selected subscriber station.
 16. The method of claim15, further comprising: generating an audio dial-tone at the selectedsubscriber station responsive to detection by said response detector ofthe unavailability of the communication resources.
 17. The method ofclaim 15, further comprising: generating a dialing-digit indicationsignal for communication to the network infrastructure pursuant to therequest to establish the priority call between the selected subscriberstation and the correspondent node.
 18. The method of claim 15 whereinemulation of normal call set-up operations at the selected subscriberstation at least terminates in response to determination that thepseudo-universal dialing code has not been dialed at the selectedsubscriber station.
 19. The method of claim 15, further comprising:terminating use of selected communication resources of the FWAcommunication system by one of a plurality of subscriber stations; andreallocating said selected communication resources to establish thepriority call from the subscriber selected station.
 20. The method ofclaim 19, wherein communication sessions for the FWA communicationsystem have priority levels associated therewith and wherein selectionof said selected communication resources for termination is maderesponsive to the priority levels associated with the communicationsessions.